BoxScore

Sacramento State men?s soccer team lost their opening game 5-0 at the hands of the No. 2 ranked Stanford Cardinal on Saturday at Maloney Field.

“The loss will work to our advantage down the road because it exposes some of our weaknesses on both sides of the ball early in the season,” Hornet coach Michael Linenberger said.

The match was deadlocked for the opening thirty-three minutes with both teams missing scoring opportunities, including a shot by Hornet senior midfielder Justin Ancheta that was stopped short of the goal line by Stanford goalie Andrew Terris.

The game remained scoreless until Cardinal forward James Twellman, off a corner kick from midfielder Seyi Abolaji headed in the first score of the contest.

With less than a minute left in the first half the Cardinal extended their lead, when last year?s Pac-10 Player of the year Roger Levesque found Mike Wilson to make the score 2-0.

After the half, Wilson got right to work in the 52nd minute recording his second goal of the night with an assist from forward Matt Janusz.

In the 69th minute Cardinal midfielder Johanes Maliza added a goal of his own.

In the 76th minute Twellman put the finishing touches on a triumphant Stanford victory, receiving a shared assist from defender Todd Dunivant and forward Sean Whalen to tally his second goal, and the team?s fifth and final goal.

Hornet junior goalkeeper Jeff Gibson went the duration of the game, recording one save while allowing five goals in what might be his toughest opposition all year.

Last year?s second-team all-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation senior defender Hjalti Kristjansson and junior midfielder Joel Rodriguez were relatively quiet on offense throughout the game.

“Despite what the stats showed we played a pretty good game against a really good team,” Linenberger said.

Linenberger added that minor lapses in concentration and missed opportunities hindered them throughout the contest but would become less of a problem as the season goes on.

The loss gives the Hornets a 3 ? 4 ? 1 all-time record against the Cardinal.

The Hornets hit the road on Sept. 6 when they play at Cal Poly at 8 p.m. The Hornets will make their debut at home on Sept. 15 against UC Irvine at 1 p.m.